kcstar | Some lawmakers and teachers’ union leaders on Monday called for Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro’s resignation, citing a report in The Star
of emails showing a questionable bid process and development of plans
for Kansas City Public Schools without the district’s knowledge.
But
state school board President Peter Herschend said people are reacting
to a planning process for Kansas City that is still evolving and has
been — and will be — the responsibility of the state board.
The
board has urged the commissioner and the state Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education to bring swift change to the state’s
unaccredited school districts, including Kansas City, Herschend said in a
prepared statement. This is a time for conversation, he said.
“Some
groups are fighting even suggestions of change,” he said. “We ask you
that you reserve judgment before any plan has been formulated or even
ideas discussed.”
The emails showed a collaboration among
Nicastro, the Kauffman and Hall Family foundations and the
Indianapolis-based CEE-Trust research group starting in April to prepare
a proposal for a new school system for Kansas City.
The records
also described a bidding process that gave the work contract to
CEE-Trust in August after it had already been working with the state and
the foundations.
Eight Democratic lawmakers in a written
statement accused Nicastro of abusing her power and asked the state
school board to open an internal investigation of the bidding process.
State
Sen. Paul LeVota and state Rep. Genise Montecillo of St. Louis County,
who have challenged Nicastro previously, were joined Monday by state
representatives Reps. Bonnaye Mims of Kansas City, Judy Morgan of Kansas
City, Ira Anders of Independence, John Mayfield of Independence and Joe
Runions of Grandview, and state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal of St. Louis
County.
“It is imperative that she resign immediately as state
education commissioner or, if she fails to do so, be removed from her
post by the Missouri State Board of Education,” the statement read.
Missouri
Gov. Jay Nixon, who was asked about Nicastro during a news conference
Monday in Fulton, Mo., said that it was a good time for the state Board
of Education to “monitor and evaluate” concerns raised about her, The
Associated Press reported.
In his statement, Herschend said the
board ultimately chose CEE-Trust, agreeing with the department that
CEE-Trust was “the clear choice for conducting analyses and making
recommendations for transforming Kansas City Public Schools.”
The process was “open and competitive,” he said.
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